NOTES: Takes place during "Mr. Ferguson Is Ill Today", though diverges somewhat from the aired version. It could be considered a sequel to my previous story "The Uncanny Valley", but it is not necessary to have read it.
SUMMARY: Cameron decides to intervene before John makes a terrible mistake with Riley.
DISCLAIMER: All characters herein are the property of someone other than me. No profit has been earned.
"Only Lonely"
Chapter 3
T.R. Samuels
Dawn broke across the horizon, sunlight casting an arc of red and gold as it began its journey across the sky. The sun's disc peaked over the rim of the world, banishing the night as twilight receded.
No matter how many times she saw it, it always made her sad.
In the future, there was no sunshine. No dawn. Just the impenetrable black of fallout, cold and dark, dust and debris churned up after the bombs fell to create a perpetual night.
No sunlight. No warmth.
No way out. Nowhere to go.
When she had arrived in the past, the precious cargo of a blinding ball of light, dawn had broken across the desert, the sky as golden as it was now as the darkness surrendered to the power of the sun. Her first dawn. The world born anew.
The man she had encountered on a nearby road seemed awed only by her as she approached his truck and pulled him out, tapping him on the head before dumping him in the trunk.
"What are you thinking about?"
Cameron looked to her right, where John occupied the seat next to her on the bus, sharing as much of each other's space as they could.
"Nothing."
"Tell me," He had that kind look about him. "I want to know what you think about."
Truthfully, he wanted to know everything about her. Every thought, every memory. To blur John and Cameron into one.
"When I was a kid I lived in Mexico for a year and a half. In this little village called Dejalo." He explained, giving something of himself as collateral for exchange. "That's where we're going. Thought I'd show you around."
Warmth spread out inside her chest. "Thank you for explaining." The words were old, but the light in her eyes was new.
"No problem."
Neither spoke for a moment, as comfortable with their silence as their fingers felt entwined.
"I never want to feel cold again."
His brow furrowed and he turned to her. "What do you mean?"
A coy smile came with her response. "A girl has to have some secrets, John." Tenacity was his strong suit, but Cameron liked keeping him intrigued.
His own smile grew wide, whatever he imagined she would say, she always said something better. His heart fell for her that little more. "That's why we love them so much."
His smile was infectious and she always caught it, the corners of her mouth curling as he leaned in and kissed her, stroking her cheek, bringing her to life with his warmth as the sun did the Earth.
Cameron was the Earth, and John was the sun.
####
Sarah Conner slapped together the last of the metal frame before sliding it into the hole in the floor. Cameron could have done this in a fraction of the time, but Sarah could not face her this morning. Neither of them. The day was half gone and still they had yet to make an appearance.
God only knew what they were doing.
The fight between John and herself still rang in her ears. How he had sided with Cameron over her. She hated how he responded to her.
In hindsight she should have known better. Tackling John head on rarely worked. He just dug in harder and took whatever she dealt out, either not hearing a word or rejecting them outright.
She tried to fight it down, but the smile was already on her face. Despite however misguided she thought he was, her heart still swelled with pride. He was Kyle Reece's son alright – nothing would harm his girl.
She leaned down into the hole to fix the frame in place, hearing footsteps approach as John finally put in an appearance, and promised herself that she wasn't going to fight.
Sarah suddenly found herself being yanked to her feet by the crook of her arm, brought face to face with Cromartie who quickly flung her back to the ground. The wind was knocked out of her on impact as he came at her again, seizing her by the leg before dragging her to the base of the stairs. In a matter of seconds she was dumped unceremoniously outside John's room where the triple-8 blew the door off its hinges and marched inside.
Empty. The room was empty and John was nowhere to be found.
Cromartie turned and grabbed her by the throat, hoisting her inside and onto the felled door. He shoved a gun in her face.
"Where is he?"
Her voice strained against his iron grip, her hatred propelling it out. "Check under the bed."
The terminator took all of a second to analyse her voice pattern. "You don't know."
His hand tightened, closing around her windpipe and darkness claimed her.
####
Derek Reese slipped the silver key into the hole, twisting it home as he undid the padlock and slipped the bolt. The moment he stepped through the door he knew she had been there. Everything in his store had its place, committed to memory to be grabbed at a moment's notice.
God damn metal.
Now things were missing, not to mention added. He opened one of the new metal boxes that had been placed on the shelf to find shotgun shells of florescent red. He picked one up, feeling the weight. He took out his knife and pealed back the moulded plastic of the casing where a single metal slug had replaced the shot.
Depleted uranium.
Where the hell had she got depleted uranium from? No gun shop carried anything like this. His mind sped back to the time she had spent in a nuclear power plant.
No way.
It wouldn't be the first time she had made her own ammunition.
Son of a bitch.
No. For once he wouldn't complain. These babies would pack a wallop. Next time they took on a triple-8 these could turn the tide. Skynet could add all the coltan it wanted; nothing kept walking after taking a DU round to the face.
His phone began to ring and he fished it from his pocket, not recognising the number. A strange number at that. He didn't answer, if it was the phone company offering him an upgrade again they could go spin. They'd fooled him once already.
When the phone rung off the voicemail came to life, its little symbol flashing at him. He hit the speed dial and was put through.
Beep, beep. One, three. The alarm code.
Shit.
John was in trouble.
To be continued…
Sorry it's a bit short, but I wanted to keep the bulk of the John/Cameron story for a single chapter (the next one). I needed to get the last two scenes out now as they are integral to the plot. I kept the story disjointed, same as the episode, rather than sacrifice pacing.
I was going to let Riley down easy, but after the last episode she's just made my s##t-list. Bitch-whore indeed.